Archived News:

Thursday, Aug 30, 2012

Paradox Interactive announces Starvoid is available, as Zeal Game Studios' real-time strategy game can now be acquired via digital distribution. Here's the launch trailer, and here's word:

Paradox Interactive and Zeal Game Studios are running low on fuel for their massive fleet of starships, and have put out the call to every mercenary, bounty hunter, and armed lunatic in the galaxy to collect more, by any means necessary. Starvoid, a real-time strategy (RTS) skirmish for up to 12 players at once, has launched today on digital game stores everywhere. Starvoid players must assemble a customized robot army and use one of several unique commanders to seize control of valuable Starvoid extractors for fun and profit.

Frozenbyte announces a September 6th release date for Trine 2: Goblin Menace, the expansion for Trine 2, their action/adventure sequel. The announcement includes word of a new patch that's now available to pave the way for this, and that owners of the Trine 2: Collector's Edition on Steam now have access to beta versions of the first two levels from the add-on:

Finnish game developer Frozenbyte has announced September 6th as the release date for its upcoming game Trine 2: Goblin Menace on Steam (PC/Mac). Trine 2: Goblin Menace is an expansion to the award-winning action adventure game Trine 2, featuring an all-new campaign spanning six unique levels and new skills that are also playable in the original game.

In preparation for the Goblin Menace expansion, Trine 2 on Steam has been updated with a major 2 GB patch to make sure the game and the new expansion work together in multiplayer. Some of this work is still ongoing and will bring many long-requested features to all Trine 2 players, including an arrow indicator of other players location in multiplayer, lots of minor gameplay changes and additions and technical fixes.

Moreover, current Trine 2: Collector's Edition owners on Steam get immediate access to a beta version of Goblin Menace, featuring the first two levels. Once the Goblin Menace expansion is available for purchase on September 6th, the beta will end.

Matrix Games announces the release of a new patch for Decisive Campaigns: Case Blue to update this turn-based strategy game to version v1.02c. Word is: "The v1.02c update improves AI processing time for engineering moves to create shorter turn lengths. The update also changes the dice throw for intercept algorithm, as well as fixing some issues with card play and the creation of new units. Message text with the Intelligence card replay has been improved and correct strategic position of the enemy is now given, along with using a larger font in combat results for easier viewing. Players looking for a larger and higher resolution will be happy to know that 2600 pixel width resolutions will be supported." The full change log is here, and the patch can be found on this page.

Valve has launched its proposed Steam Greenlight program to enlist community support for determining games to be released through the Steam service. Here's the deal:

Valve, creators of best-selling game franchises (such as Counter-Strike, Half-Life, Left 4 Dead, Portal, and Team Fortress) and leading technologies (such as Steam and Source), today announced the launch of Steam Greenlight, a new platform feature that enlists the community's help in selecting some of the next games to be released on Steam.

Announced earlier this summer, Steam Greenlight allows developers and publishers to post information and media about their game in an effort to convince the Community that the game should be released on Steam. Greenlight piggybacks on Steam Workshop's flexible system that organizes content and lets customers rate and leave feedback.

"We've been working on this feature for the last few months with the input from a group of indie partners, and the response has been extremely positive," said Valve's Anna Sweet. "With the additional help of beta testers, we are able to launch with a solid line-up of titles for the community to start viewing and rating. And, as we've done with all Steam features, we intend to continually grow and modify Greenlight as more and more developers and community members have a chance to get involved."

As well as serving as a clearing house for game submissions, Greenlight provides an incredible level of added exposure for new games and an opportunity to connect directly with potential customers and fans.

2K Games announces a Season Pass program for Borderlands 2, which will allow gamers to secure four upcoming add-on campaigns for Gearbox Software's upcoming FPS/ARPG sequel for a one-time advance payment. They do not provide exact details on what the add-ons will offer, but say they will all be released by June 2013, and the season pass will reduce the cost of the four packs to around USD $30.00 instead of around $10.00 each. Season passes will go on sale when the game is released in North America on September 18th and internationally on September 21st.

The High Moon Studios Blog acknowledges issues with multiplayer in the PC edition of Transformers: Fall of Cybertron and outlines what they are doing to address them. They say they are "working hard with internal and external teams to address any issues," they are currently testing the PC version of a patch that's already been deployed on consoles, and they continue to monitor the game's support forum for problem reports. Thanks nin via Kotaku.

The Miner Wars Website has news that Miner Wars 2081 will support the upcoming Occulus Rift headset when this upcoming Descent-style shooter is released, saying this may allow support of other future VR equipment as well, and they are also considering adding "FreeTracking" to allow head tracking via webcam. Here's word:

With Head-Tracking and the addition of Stereo Displays compatibilty we expect players to be able to experience a richer Miner Wars 2081 immersion. We'll be polishing the cockpits in places we thought people would never look, and you may start using the side windows tactically in ways that we never initially intended! We feel this project is perfect for our type of game, and it will bring the six degrees of freedom feel that virtual reality units are traditionally attracted to! So we're stocking up on our whips, forcing our 3D artists to model things behind and under the 'viewport'.

Open Beta testing is now underway for Dino Storm, an upcoming free-to-play MMOG that's resulted from developer Splitscreen Games recognizing the demand for a game combining cowboys, lasers, and dinosaurs…

I need to try to help Hudson the wonder dog, as her annual bout with skin allergies has sprung up virtually overnight, and she is suddenly spending a great deal of her time attempting to chew all the hair off the base of her tail. Hopefully a bath and some topical treatments will help with this, because the poor thing seems completely miserable at the moment. Also, the bald butt look is not working for her.